


A Beast's Fury

by acewillgraham (ConsultingTimeLord)



Category: Preacher (TV)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7238326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingTimeLord/pseuds/acewillgraham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassidy convinces Jesse to meet with the government "angels" about removing his powers, but the plan goes awry, forcing Cassidy to step in and reveal himself for what he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom, so I'm testing out the waters and the voices of these characters with a fairly simple fic, but I hope you all enjoy it.

In the attic of the old church, Cassidy lay underneath a thin wooly blanket on top of a stained, lumpy mattress. Despite the stuffy air and the unsanitary conditions, he slept soundly through the morning, only one foot sticking out from under the cover. Sunlight leaked in through the boarded up window at the front of the building and cast a ray over the exposed skin on his ankle until it started to smoke. He shifted in his sleep, irritated by the dull sting, until he finally caught fire.

“Jesus, shite!” he said, throwing the blanket off himself and scampering away to a dark corner of the room.

The flame spread to the cuff of his jeans, but he slapped the fire out with his hand before it could grow further. He glared at the crack in the boards as if it purposefully existed just to hurt him and not because he shoddily nailed them in a several nights before. A groggy feeling settled in his mind once the adrenaline wore off and, rather than fix the problem, he dragged the mattress and blanket off into the dark corner where he could safely lay back down.

Just as he flopped onto the mattress, the echoing sound of feet on the attic stairs broke the silence of the empty church.

“Cassidy? Are you up here?” Jesse’s voice carried up the stairs.

“Aye, Padre, what is it?” Cassidy groaned into the mattress before pushing himself up onto his feet.

“I just wanted to talk about what you said yesterday,” Jesse said as he reached the top of the stairs. “Were you still sleeping? It’s nearly two o’clock.”

“Me? No, ‘course not. I was just… making my bed,” he said, trying to busy himself with the wool blanket. He shook it out and draped it over the mattress so that it completely covered the surface. “There. Looks nice, doesn’t it?”

Jesse narrowed his eyes at Cassidy for a moment before shaking his head. “Yeah, sure, but listen. I think I understand what you were getting at about this power not having to be a curse.”

“That’s wonderful, Padre, good to hear,” Cassidy said, walking over and clapping Jesse on the back.

The two “angels” from the previous night popped into his head at the mention of Jesse’s new power. He promised them he would lead Jesse to them so they would retrieve the damn power and leave them alone, but his resolve wavered with Jesse standing in front of him, his wide puppy dog eyes shining. But it was for his own good, for the good of all of them, to get the government off their asses. He just had to figure out how to convince him of that.

“—it’s a balance between good and evil,” Jesse said as Cassidy emerged from his thoughts. “While it’s tempting to use it for my own gain, there’s also a way to use it for better purposes.”

Cassidy frowned, his brows furrowing together as he paced the width of the room. “That’s all well and good, Padre, but do you really _want_ a power like that? It could go wrong so easily.”

“You were the one saying how awesome it was yesterday,” Jesse said, throwing his arms up in the air before crossing them over his chest.

“Well, you know, I’ve had time to reflect,” he said with a shrug, avoiding Jesse’s eyes as he continued to pace.

“I mean, I don’t want this power exactly, but I have it.”

“Yes! Exactly the point,” Cassidy said, stopping in the middle of the room as he pointed at a bemused Jesse. “What if you didn’t have to have it.”

“Uh-huh. I had thought about that,” Jesse said, side-eyeing Cassidy. “If you don’t feel up to talking about this you just have to say so.”

“No, wait a minute,” Cassidy said, reaching out to Jesse as he turned away. “I’m just sayin’ that there might be a way to get rid of it. If you’re interested.”

“Are you being serious? How could you find something like that out?” Jesse said, his mouth turning into a hard line as his voice sounded accusatory.

Cassidy rubbed his brow. “It’s hard to explain. A power like that, it came from somewhere and it draws attention. And people who know what it is may have approached me last night while you were off gallivanting about.”

Jesse shook his head. “What do you get up to when I’m not around?”

“Oh, well, you know, it depends on the day. Friday nights I like to play a little bingo at the old folks home,” Cassidy said with a smirk.

“I’ll admit, you got me curious. Suspicious, but curious. I have a few things to take care of, but we’ll talk more when I get back tonight,” he said, stating it rather than asking.

“Sure thing, I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Maybe you can finally fix that air conditioner,” Jesse said as he marched back down the stairs.

“I’m waiting on a part,” he shouted down after him.

Once Jesse exited the church, Cassidy felt the silence weigh down on him, trapped in the old building until the sun fell.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite his insistence that the A/C was missing something vital, he walked down to the closet on the ground floor and grabbed the blue, metal toolbox so he could tinker with the infernal thing. Being one-hundred and nineteen years old, he knew enough to change and blend with the times. However, with so much technology popping up in the last century, it was hard for him to understand it all. Not that he couldn’t use a smart phone or operate a computer, but learning how they worked was a chore and a half.

When he removed the face of the A/C it looked like a god awful mess and he was hesitant to touch anything out of fear of making it worse. A disfigured coil stuck out at him and instinct told him to prod it, though when he did, it startled him backward with a sick sputtering noise.

“Christ, this thing isn’t even worth fixin’”

“It’s all we got,” a woman’s voice said, startling Cassidy again. He spun around to see Emily, dressed in her work uniform. “We can’t afford a new one right now.”

“Don’t you guys take money from people in that dish you pass around?” Cassidy said, straightening his denim vest as he tried to recover his dignity.

“That’s not where that money goes. Besides, there hasn’t been much generosity lately,” Emily said, her eyes downcast. “We both know you can’t fix this. Why are you trying?”

Cassidy frowned, taken aback by the question. “I dunno. I said I would. Jesse asked me to.”

The corners of Emily’s mouth twitched upward as she nodded once, as if affirming something. Rather than continue the conversation, she walked away, leaving Cassidy confused.

“What was that all about?” he said, turning and watching as she walked away toward the front of the church.

She waved a hand at him. “Nothing. I swear, I don’t know what Jesse sees in you.”

“Tch.”

He shook his head and returned to the open unit. Rather than attempt any fixing, he popped the filter and plastic face back on before kicking the open toolbox hard enough for it to skid into the wall. When he saw the scratches it caused on the floorboards, a tightness squeezed his gut. He closed the box and picked it up, setting it down on one of the pews.

“D’ya know where Jesse ran off to?”

“I already have three kids, I don’t need to parent him as well,” Emily snapped, her voice carrying as she gathered up a stack of papers from the pulpit.

“All right, calm down,” he said.

“If I had to guess, he might be with that girl who’s been following him around.”

Cassidy whipped around to face her. “Girl? What girl? He hasn’t told me about a girl.”

“He hasn’t told me either, but I’ve seen her trying to get his attention like an aloof, affection-starved cat,” she said, focusing on shuffling the papers in front of her.

“Does he fancy her?” he said, lowering his voice as if he could be listening.

She stared at him for a long moment before gathering up the papers and walking past him toward the doors. “Why don’t you ask him?”

He tried to follow after her, but he jumped out of the way as she threw the doors open, inviting in the afternoon sun. As he watched the doors swing shut again, he felt a strong part of him want to know more about the girl in question, but he also didn’t want to push Jesse for information. While he was using the small town for cover until he could leave again, he felt like he bonded with Jesse in a way he hadn’t with a human in a long time. Any girls he saw was his own business, though the fact Jesse didn’t trust him enough to tell him created a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach. He briefly considered going after him to see what he was up to, but that required him to cover up and have access to a vehicle, the latter of which he did not have. All he could do was sit and drink and wait.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Jesse returned that night, Cassidy slept another two hours and drank a fifth of whiskey he five finger discounted at a nearby liquor store after sunset. He lounged in one of the pews with his eyes closed, his thumb plugging the whiskey bottle as it lay on his chest. The scent of stale alcohol and woodsy cologne told him that it was Jesse creaking the church doors open, but he didn’t bother opening his eyes until he could sense him standing at the foot of his pew.

“’Ey there, Padre,” Cassidy said with a half-assed wave of his free hand.

“You save some of that for me?” he said, pointing at the bottle.

Jesse looked tired, as he always did, but somehow seemed more ragged around the edges than usual.

“You want any, you’ll have to take it from me,” Cassidy challenged, shaking the bottle at him as a coy smile spread across his face.

“ ** _Give me the bottle_** ,” Jesse commanded in a booming voice that tingled Cassidy’s spine and washed through his brain like cold water.

Cassidy sat up and held out the whiskey to Jesse with a grimace on his face. Jesse smirked and raised his eyebrows as he grabbed the bottle from him and guzzled down a mouthful.

“You’re a right bastard, you know that?” Cassidy said, though the smile on his face betrayed him.

“At least I’m nice enough to share,” he said, handing the bottle back to him.

Jesse shoved Cassidy’s legs out of the way and sat down beside him, relaxing back into the hard wooden bench. Cassidy watched Jesse sigh and close his eyes as though the pew was the most comfortable bed he’d ever laid in. As they sat in silence, Cassidy downed a hard swig of whiskey before passing it back again.

“So, about removing my powers,” Jesse said, glancing over at Cassidy.

“You interested?”

“Just considering my options. Who said they could remove them?” Jesse said, looking pensive with the scrunched lines on his forehead.

“Eh, couple o’ government lackeys. Said they just want the power and then they’ll leave us alone,” Cassidy said, studying Jesse’s face as if he’d need to remember every detail later on.

“Did they say what the power was or why they wanted it?”

Cassidy laughed, short and harsh. “’Course not, but I reckon they want it ‘cause they created it, didn’t they? They called themselves “angels”. Some sort of special ops, I imagine.”

“I’d be much more skeptical about all this if it wasn’t for the fact I can make people do whatever I say,” he paused, staring at the cross at the front of the church before he drank from the bottle and passed it off. “Do you think I should do this, Cass?”

Cassidy shrugged, a frown on his face. “I mean, at least meet with ‘em? Hear what they have to say. It seems like they won’t piss off until they speak with you.”

“Could you set up a meeting with them? Sunday, after my sermon.”

“Sure thing, Padre. No trouble,” he said, resting one arm on the back the pew behind Jesse’s shoulders.

He stared down the neck of the bottle to the amber liquid within, but he didn’t drink from it. Instead, he passed the bottle over, tucking it in Jesse’s hand.

“Keep it,” Cassidy said, “I think I’ve had a little too much.”

Jesse smiled, though it didn’t reach his tired eyes, and tipped the bottle toward Cassidy as though they were clinking glasses before he chugged half the bottle. Cassidy watched in wide-eyed admiration. A warmth bloomed in his gut, curling around his stomach like a python. He stood up and Jesse followed him with his eyes.

“Heading to bed?” Jesse said, eyebrows raised.

“Bed?” Cassidy scoffed. “No, the night is young, as they say. I’m going out. You’re welcome to tag along, of course.”

A frown lined Jesse’s mouth as he considered it. “All right, Cass. Show me a good time.”

Cassidy grinned. “Oh, you bet your sweet Christian arse I will.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about how long this chapter took to write. Work and writer's block really got in the way, but I hope the wait was worth it. The final chapter shouldn't take nearly as long.

“I enjoy a night out as much as anyone, but watching you do lines of cocaine in a bar bathroom and going off-roading in my truck is not my idea of a good time,” Jesse sighed as he closed the church door behind him and shook out his dirt laden jacket.

“First of all, I offered you some. Two, you’re no fun at all,” Cassidy said, turning around to face him. “I’ll fix that muffler by the way, since I was mostly the reason it was knocked off.”

Jesse raised his eyebrows. “Mostly?”

“The rocks in the desert were also somewhat at fault,” Cassidy said, frowning and shaking his head. “That truck is surprisingly durable.”

“It’s held on for a long time, sure,” Jesse said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can you really fix the truck?”

“Yeah, ‘course. Cars are simple.” He’d dealt with cars for the majority of his long life as they evolved from motorized horseless carriages to high-powered machines. He could reattach a muffler, no problem.

“Any chance you could remove rust spots as well?”

Cassidy contorted his face into something between a grimace and contemplation. “Eh, that’s a trickier business, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks Cass, I appreciate it. Never again, though,” Jesse said, pointing at him with his mouth and brow set in a stern expression. Cassidy met his authoritative tone with a smile.

“Just you wait, Padre, you’ll be back for more,” he said with a wink.

“Well, for now, I’m going home,” Jesse said, laughing and gripping Cassidy’s shoulder for a moment. The warm touch lingered on Cassidy’s shoulder, spreading down to his chest. “You should sleep too. I don’t know how you live. You’re basically nocturnal.”

“Vampire, remember?” he said, gesturing to himself.

“Ah, yes, of course,” he said, tapping his index finger to his temple. “See you in the early afternoon.”

“Aye, see ya then,” Cassidy said, waving him off and watching him leave until the doors closed behind him.

The invigoration that flowed through his veins at night still thrummed within him, but rather than take advantage of the energy, he walked up the stairs and flopped down on his mattress. Quiet surrounded him, broken up occasionally by his own breathing and the wind causing the church to creak and moan. Thoughts buzzed in his head like flies and he tried to scrub them away, rubbing his face and running his hands through his hair. He wished Jesse stayed as a distraction. Barring that, he wished he hadn’t wasted all the coke he bought, wearing off halfway through his off-roading escapades.

It seemed like a great idea at the time, flooring the gas pedal of Jesse’s truck through the desert, but Jesse emitted a tense aura the whole time. A black and blue bruise in the shape of Jesse’s left hand bloomed on Cassidy’s right forearm where Jesse had gripped him for dear life. Cassidy rolled up his sleeve and brushed his fingertips over the handprint. Even the light touch caused short shocks of pain. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers harder into the flesh as the pain created semi-pleasant chills throughout his body.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed the light filtering in that signaled dawn, leaking through the poorly boarded window. With a sigh, he laid down and closed his eyes, trying to drift off to sleep even though his mind continued to race. After an hour, maybe two, he gave up, choosing instead to throw on the blanket and straw hat in order to brave the sun.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun felt a little too bright and a little too hot, even through his protective gear. His skin warmed, not just from the Texas heat, but from the sensitivity of his condition. Covered as he was, he could stand out all day and not catch fire, but the discomfort urged him to move, to find shade or shelter. He found it in a small, glass phone booth in the middle of town where he called the number the two government men gave him.

The phone rang for a long time, nearly a minute, trying Cassidy’s patience.

“Hello?” a voice said, sounding confused.

“Hi, yeah, Cassidy here, Preacher’s friend,” he said, rubbing his eyes under his sunglasses.

“Yes? Has he agreed to meet with us?”

“Yeah, about that, why don’t we meet at the Flavor Station and talk away from any recording devices you may or may not have,” he said, leaning his back against the cool glass.

“But why—”

Cassidy hung up the phone with a small, self-satisfied smile. He left the booth, walking down the sparsely populated streets to the Flavor Station where the Open sign swung back and forth before settling still. Upon entering the building, he noticed that all but one of the tables were empty, occupied by a tired father and his two daughters. Cassidy slid into the back corner booth and removed his hat and blanket, setting them down on the red pleather beside him. The strong, mingling scents of grease and coffee roiled his stomach.

As he watched the door for the two men, a woman holding a pen and pad of paper approached his table.

“Cassidy?” a familiar voice said, incredulous.

Cassidy looked up to see Emily, glaring down at him. “Emily, you look lovely today,” he said with a wide smile.

“Why are you here?” she hissed, trying to stare him out of the seat.

“I’ve got a meeting. Very important business,” he said, nodding as though it reaffirmed his statement.

“What kind of shady business could you possibly be up to?”

“I take offence to that. This is perfectly respectable business on Jesse’s behalf.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth turned into a thin, bloodless frown. “What business could he have you doing that I don’t know about?”

“I’m afraid that’s between the two of us and the men we’re in talks with,” Cassidy said, knitting his brows together. The way her face turned a light shade of red pleased him immensely.

An annoyed scoff passed through her lips as she walked away

“Hey, hey, wait, aren’t you meant to take my order?”

The knuckles of her hands turned white as she clutched the pen and paper. Her shoulders heaved with a deep breath before she spun around and walked a death march back to the table.

“What would you like?” she said through gritted teeth.

“Black coffee, small stack of blueberry pancakes, and extra crispy bacon,” he said, grinning up at her and winking before she stormed off to the kitchen.

In the middle of piling the creamer cups into a pyramid, Emily returned, dropping a plate and cup in front of him and walking away. The coffee sloshed over the side of the mug onto the table and the bacon looked shriveled and burnt, but he ate it anyway. A few minutes later, the door jingled and the two government men walked in. Cassidy stood up and waved them over, sitting back down as they slid into the booth across from him.

“What do you need to discuss that you couldn’t say over the phone?” the shorter one with the beard said.

Cassidy hunched forward and spoke in a whisper. “Jesse agreed to meet with you. Me, I’m a bit wary. What exactly do you intend to do to him, to remove whatever’s inside him?”

The two men stared at each other for a moment before turning back to Cassidy. “We’re going to draw it out,” the same man said.

“He’ll sing to it,” the taller man added.

Cassidy narrowed his eyes. “Okay.”

“Or—” the tall man said before the short one cut him off.

“No!”

“Or what?” Cassidy said, his curiosity peaked.

“Or we cut him open and take it out,” the tall man said over the short man’s protests.

Cassidy nodded. “Right. I assume that’s plan B. Or plan C even.”

“When does he want to meet with us?” the short man said.

Cassidy bit his bottom lip, staring hard at each man in turn. An uneasiness nagged at him from the back of his mind. He didn’t trust the men in front of him, but Jesse’s power didn’t seem any worthier of trust. It was great and terrible and dangerous, which said a lot coming from him.

“Sunday, three pm, at the church,” Cassidy conceded, though his intestines twisted as he said it. He consoled himself with the thought that it was Jesse’s decision, but that didn’t help much.

“And he will let us remove it?” the short man said.

“He’ll discuss it,” Cassidy said as movement outside the window to his left stole his attention away.

The flicker of movement turned out to be Jesse and a woman with short, curly hair and light brown skin. She stomped after him in order to keep up with his long strides. Her brows crinkled together and she spoke with exaggerated hand motions that made it look like she was arguing with him. Was this the girl Emily meant? As he stood up, he could see the short man’s mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear a word of it.

“Yeah, yeah, right, see you then,” Cassidy said as he abandoned his booth, pulling on the hat and blanket while he walked to the door.

The sun bared down on him as he walked out onto the sidewalk before he stared following the two from a moderate distance. They seemed too wrapped up in their argument to notice him.

“I am not leaving without you,” the woman said through clenched teeth.

“Then enjoy a life settling back down in Annville, Tulip,” Jesse said with a sigh.

They fought with deep familiarity, like a seasoned couple. Cassidy gnawed his bottom lip until it bled.

“I’m going to get you to go with me, one way or another,” she snapped.

“You going to drag me out, kicking and screaming?” Jesse said, a short, bitter laugh on his lips. “I’d like to see that. This is my life now. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

“This is not your life, Jesse Custer. I’ll make you see that,” Tulip said in a huff.

Caught up in eavesdropping, Cassidy didn’t realize how close to them he had gotten until Tulip stopped and turned on her heel, forcing Cassidy to stumble to a stop.

“Who the fuck are you? What do you want from us?” she said, teeth bared like an animalistic warning.

Jesse paused and turned around at the sound of Tulip’s voice, squinting at Cassidy before recognition hit him. “Cassidy? I thought you were still at the church.”

Cassidy hid his face in the shade of the hat. “That was the initial plan, yeah, but I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for breakfast and saw you.”

“And stalked me?”

“Well, you were having a conversation, weren’t ya? I didn’t want to interrupt…”

“Who is this guy and why is he dressed like a homeless vampire?” Tulip said, glaring at Jesse.

“This is Cassidy, he’s a friend of mine. I have no explanation for the clothes, but I don’t really question it.”

“In fact, I am a vampire. Very sensitive to sunlight,” Cassidy interjected, drawing the blanket tighter around himself.

Tulip raised an eyebrow at him before turning it on Jesse who responded with a smile and a shrug. “This is the company you’re keeping now? This is what’s better than leaving with me?”

“Hey now, that’s a bit rude, isn’t it? I’m a good mate to have,” Cassidy scoffed.

“He is a good friend,” Jesse said. “Maybe not the best person, but life is never boring.”

Cassidy pointed at Jesse and nodded as if that were a glowing recommendation. “But besides the point, Padre, I need to speak with you.”

Jesse glanced at Tulip, eyebrows raised, and Tulip rolled her eyes.

“I will be back,” she growled.

“I don’t doubt it,” Jesse said with a grin.

Tulip shook her head and marched away, leaving them on their own. With all of Jesse’s attention on him, Cassidy’s muscles tensed.

“Well?” Jesse said, staring at him.

“Let’s walk and talk,” Cassidy said, walking off in the direction they were headed before Tulip stopped them. “We’re you headed back to the church?”

“I was,” Jesse said as he hurried to catch up with Cassidy.

“Great, that works fine. So, who was she?” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at empty air. “Old girlfriend?”

“Is that what you needed to talk about?” Jesse said, narrowing his eyes.

“Just curious, mostly. You seemed to know each other pretty well is all.”

Jesse shrugged. “We do. We were together once. Not anymore. So, what is it?”

Butterflies fluttered in Cassidy’s stomach. “Oh, well, I met with those men I told you about. They agreed to meet at the church, three pm, Sunday. At least to talk with you about it.”

“Thanks, Cass. I guess we’ll see what they have to say.” Jesse looked over at Cassidy, his eyes scanning up and down his body. “Do you really have to dress like that?”

“If I don’t, I’ll catch fire.”

“Fair enough.”

They walked in silence the rest of the way, but Cassidy felt at ease. He hardly noticed the heat of the sun. When they reached the door the opened to Jesse’s home, Cassidy turned at the steps to leave, but Jesse held the door open for him.

“Care for a drink?”

Cassidy stared at him for a moment before smiling. “Can’t turn down a free drink.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sleep eluded Cassidy on Sunday morning, replaced instead by anxiety. He paced the floor of the attic until Emily shouted at him to stop. After the service began, he crept down the stairs and slid into the back pew to his right. He listened as he lay down with his eyes shut, not listening so much to the words as the passion behind them. Jesse believed in what he said. It almost made Cassidy want to believe too. Almost.

At the end, as the parishioners filed out, Cassidy stood up and approached the pulpit.

“That was a good one there today, Padre.”

Jesse smiled and shook his head as he picked up the pages he read from. “Did you actually listen?”

“Here and there. Very inspirational,” Cassidy said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “How much time have we got?”

“About three hours. Why?”

“I was thinking maybe we should prepare, in case things go wrong,” he said in a hushed tone, leaning over the pulpit to close the space between them.

“Hold on,” Jesse said, holding up a hand before walking over to Emily at the organ.

Cassidy watched them speak in whispers, straining to hear, but unable to make out any words. They seemed to talk amicably and Emily even left with a smile on her face as she held a folder full of papers to her chest. Once the church doors closed behind her and left the two of them alone, Jesse turned back to Cassidy.

“What precautions do we need to take? I thought they just wanted to talk.”

“Well, yeah, they said that, but last time they were around, you were unconscious and they had a chainsaw.”

“What?”

“It’s a long story. Anyway, I don’t trust ‘em far as I can throw ‘em.”

“We should be fine, Cass. They’re just people. I’m gonna go take care of a few things at home, but I’ll be back before three,” Jesse said, waving his hand before he departed.

Cassidy shook his head as Jesse left the church. “You poor naïve bastard. I’ll take care of things myself.”

 

* * *

 

 

In the hours on his own, Cassidy spent the time searching for and hiding various weapons around the church. A couple of knives, a dirty shovel, and a hefty crucifix. He tucked them behind the pulpit and under pews. Nothing that Jesse would suspect, so if they weren’t needed, he wouldn’t know a thing. When Jesse finally returned, Cassidy sat in a front pew with the shovel taped beneath it.

“Have you been praying?” Jesse said as he sat beside him.

“No. Sleeping with my eyes open. I’m dead tired,” he said with a laugh, though Jesse raised an eyebrow at the joke.

“I don’t know if I want to let this power go,” Jesse said in a quiet voice.

“Well, that’s your choice, Padre. I just—” Cassidy paused, cocking his head to the right like a dog.

A low, crunching rumble roared in his ears until a metal screech cut it off. Cassidy turned to Jesse with widened eyes and stood up, facing the doors. Jesse followed his actions, glancing from Cassidy to the front of the church. After a minute rife with silence and tension, the front doors creaked open and the two men walked in. Jesse approached them without caution but Cassidy stayed a few steps back, close to the shovel.

“Well, we’re here, even though we didn’t exactly appreciate being left with your bill from breakfast,” the shorter man said, staring at Cassidy.

“Sorry, mate, I’ll pay you back,” he said with a nod. Once the man looked away, Cassidy caught Jesse’s eye and shook his head.

“Cassidy says you want this power I have,” Jesse said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Why?”

“It doesn’t belong to you and it shouldn’t be used,” the short man said. “It’s incredibly dangerous.”

“Not if it’s used for the right reasons. Imagine all the good it could do,” Jesse countered.

“No! The reasons don’t matter. Using it at all has horrible consequences.”

“Deblanc,” the taller man said, the name sounding more like a question.

“I said no, Fiore!” he said, rounding on him.

“What branch of the government are you? Who are you to take this from me?”

“We’re not—” Deblanc cut himself off and rubbed his eyes. “We’re angels.”

Jesse crinkled his brow, looking back and forth between the two men.

“From heaven,” Fiore said. “You should know. You’re a preacher.”

He gaped at them and glanced back at Cassidy who shrugged. Cassidy saw a lot in his time of life and undeath and despite his skepticism in God, he was willing to believe almost anything with enough proof.

“None of this matters,” Deblanc interrupted in an exasperated tone. “Just let us take it and you’ll never see us again.”

Jesse frowned and motioned Cassidy closer.

“Aye, Padre?” Cassidy whispered.

“What do you think?”

Cassidy shook his head, exhaling a puff of air. “Follow your heart, and all that. Whatever you think is best, I’m behind you.”

Jesse clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Cass.” He turned back to face the two men after a moment. “I don’t think I want to give it up. This power chose me. It’s mine.”

Cassidy grimaced as he edged toward the pew with the shovel. “Oh, Padre. Not the choice I would’ve made, but what do I know,” he said under his breath.

“Your permission was a courtesy,” Fiore said. “We can take it if we need to.”

Deblanc glared at him.

“They’ll notice it’s gone any day now. We need it back.”

A frown lined Deblanc’s face as he shook his head. He heaved a weighted sigh as though defeated. “It’s nothing personal, preacher. We just really need what’s inside you.”

“What do you mean?” Jesse said, though he bit his tongue when he saw Deblanc reach into his jacket.

A few feet away, Cassidy reached under the pew and grabbed the shovel taped to it, pulling it free. As soon as Deblanc exposed the gun that was hidden at his waist, Cassidy ran up and knocked it from his hand with the end of the shovel. They both saw the gun skid under a pew to the left. On the backswing, he struck a stunned Deblanc in the face.

“There’s a knife under the pulpit,” Cassidy said, knocking Deblanc to the ground before turning his attention to Fiore as he fumbled for his own gun.

“There’s a gun in the closet,” Jesse said, making a break for the door.

“Oh, that’ll do nicely.”

Cassidy bared his teeth and advanced on Fiore who stepped back with every step Cassidy moved forward. The first swing grazed by Fiore’s face, but the second attempt knocked him hard enough in the side of his head to ring the metal shovel, dropping him to the floor. As Cassidy raised it again to render him unconscious—or kill him—a gunshot startled him and drew his attention.

“Jesse!” Cassidy said as both he and Fiore looked around to see Jesse, collapsed against the wall next to the open closet.

Blood spilled from his gut, causing his black clothes to glisten in the afternoon light. Jesse stared down at his red painted hand with a furrowed brow, more curious than concerned. Deblanc stood over him, his gun still pointed at him. Cassidy’s grip on the shovel tightened, whitening his knuckles. With a low growl, Cassidy charged Deblanc, smashing him the face before dropping the shovel and resorting to his fists. The skin on his knuckles broke open with the hard impacts as he turned Deblanc’s face into a bloody mess. His surroundings blurred, thoughts turned static, as he landed punch after punch until a sharp, blinding pain tore through his right shoulder, causing that arm to fall dead and useless against his side. A moment later, another pain through his left lung. Air whistled and wheezed out of him.

“Cass?” Jesse said, his voice weak and eyes wide.

“I’m okay, Padre,” Cassidy gasped, pressing a hand to the wound in his chest.

A loud click brought Cassidy’s gaze to Fiore who held out his gun, finger on the trigger.

“ ** _Drop the fucking gun_** ,” Jesse said in that strange voice, raising bumps on Cassidy’s arms.

Fiore opened his hand and the gun clattered to the floor. Taking advantage of his unarmed state, Cassidy stood up and marched toward him, teeth bared. In a panic, Fiore stumbled back, tripping and falling into a pew. Cassidy jumped on him, despite the pain throbbing in him, and bit hard into the side of his neck. With a moderate amount of pressure, his teeth slid through the flesh to open a well of blood as he tore the chunk away from his neck. A warm spray of blood covered his face and he licked it off his lips before digging back in, swallowing mouthfuls of the bitter, coppery liquid until the bullet wounds healed up.

Once his skin knit itself back together, he dropped Fiore’s body and stood up, blood dripping down his chin. He met Jesse’s wide, glassy eyes.

“What are you?” he said, sounding breathless.

Cassidy walked over and dug around in the closet for a blue plastic tarp which he shook out and pulled over himself. With his head and hands shaded, he returned to Jesse and draped one of Jesse’s arms around his neck before lifting him up, one arm behind his back, the other under his knees. “C’mon, Padre. Better get you to a doctor before the clones come back.”

“Clones?”

“Best not to ask questions at the moment.”

Just as Cassidy moved to shoulder the front door open, a light flashed and he turned to see Fiore step from the closet, unharmed. Fiore’s other body still lay in a bloody heap on one of the front pews.

“Jess, where are the truck keys?” Cassidy said, backing up against the door as Fiore picked up a gun and pointed it at Deblanc who whined and wheezed on the floor. “Jesse?”

He glanced down to see Jesse with his eyes closed, breathing rapidly. A gunshot rang in his ears.

“Shite. No time.”

With a hard ram from his shoulder and back, he threw the door open and stepped out into the sunlight, not pausing to worry about what it could do to him or the clones behind him. He spotted their SUV, covered in a thin layer of dirt, and ran toward it, looking in the driver’s side window to see the keys hanging in the ignition. He shifted Jesse in his arms and opened the door to the back seat, setting Jesse in as gently as he could in a rush before hopping in the driver’s seat. As the adrenaline of panic rushed through him, he turned the key in the ignition and looked up in the rearview just as Deblanc and Fiore ran out of the church. Cassidy smirked, honked the horn, and rolled down the window just to shoot them the two-finger salute as he peeled out of the church driveway and onto the road.

The sounds of Jesse’s hard breathing wiped the smile off Cassidy’s face. “You’re gonna make it, Jesse. I won’t let you die.”


End file.
